A Battle at the BGT: Ind vs Aus

By: Shayan Mukherjee

There is something magical about cricket in Australia. Glorious sunshine washing over a vast expanse of glittering, emerald-green outfields. Fast bowlers sending a furious red sphere zipping past the edge. Keepers and slips fielders standing impossibly far away. The echoing gunshot of a well-timed backfoot punch on a rock hard pitch. It’s cricket with all of the settings maxed out. Verbals flying everywhere, pace, bounce, seam, and later, spin, cracks, and rough patches. But, above all, the perennial, lingering feeling that something is going to happen.

Over the last few days, something did happen, and anyone who had the privilege of witnessing it will remember it for a very long time. 

A week ago, the renowned cricket website Cricinfo published a video in which experts offered their views on whether the next 2 months would see a “one-sided BGT.” In favour of which side? The perception that Australia were leagues ahead of India in every department of the game was so strong that the website did not feel the need to clarify. For the first time in 10 years, the nation entered a series in Australia with little hope of competing, let alone winning. Sure enough, most of the experts predicted a comfortable Australian victory.

And who would blame them?

This was a team that had just suffered a historic whitewash at home against New Zealand, severing their proud home streak of 12 years and putting their hopes of making another World Test Championship Final in jeopardy. This was a team that had lost on a pace-friendly surface, lost on a spin-friendly surface, and then lost on something somewhere in between. This was a batting unit devoid of confidence after getting dismissed for scores of 46, 156, and 121. This was a team with ageing stalwarts, fresh-faced youngsters, a controversial coach, and a plan that was looking outdated at best.

 And on came the violent, toxic criticism from the Indian fanbase. Kohli, Ashwin and Jadeja are past their prime. Our batsmen can’t play spin. Rohit Sharma’s philosophies have ruined our defensive game. KL should be dropped. On and on it came with no relent and even less understanding. The captain’s attempts to pacify increasingly frustrated fans by pointing to a past track record was met with further vitriol. Soon, the attention turned to the Australia series and the criticism continued. Our decision not to play a warm-up was criticised. Even simple personal choices, like our captain choosing to to miss the first test to stay with his wife while she gave birth, were scrutinised and disapproved of. While many passionate, enthusiastic cricket fans keep their faith in the team, there are many more who take every opportunity to switch allegiances and bully them. 

And what of our opposition? Australia is always a powerhouse in its own backyard, and, this year, they were going into the series with the most experienced and settled lineup they have had in years. Some call this world-beating, serial-winning side one of the best teams to ever take the cricket field.

Up until Tea on the first day, it looked like every doubter of the Indian team (a vast majority at this point) was being vindicated. A depleted Indian batting unit, shorn of their captain and their number 3 batter, crashed to another low total on a typical Perth green top. Starc, Hazlewood and Cummins made hay and every single critique of the team was coming to fruition. Jaiswal being unable to shelve his attacking instincts. Kohli fiddling tentatively outside off. Batsmen failing to account for the steep Optus bounce. Another inevitable collapse, and, surely, another inevitable defeat.

With one small caveat. Jasprit Bumrah had not had his say yet.

Even the most pessimistic of naysayers would admit that, until Jasprit Bumrah had finished his first spell, the team could not be written off completely. Such was the power this singular man wielded. Cricket is inherently balanced towards the batsmen. Wickets are significantly rarer than boundaries, and, in test cricket, where there is no run-rate pressure and survival is all that is required, this imbalance is amplified. Most good deliveries do not result in a wicket, while most bad ones result in a boundary. Therefore, it would be ridiculous to toss the ball to your premier fast bowler and expect him to make an impact every single match. Right?

But Bumrah is no mortal fast bowler. He is a magician. Armed with a wicked bag of tricks and a razor-sharp mind. Moreover, on the evening of November 22nd, 2024, with the light fading and the pitch still fresh and green, the conditions were also in his favour. And that was enough. In fact, for the next half an hour, it looked like too much. In his hands, the new Kookaburra ball was a weapon of mass destruction. Pads were thudded, outside edges were licked, batsmen were made to look like circus acts. When the dust settled, he had 3-9 in 6 overs. Australia had no openers and no Steve Smith. If Kohli held on to a catch, they would not have had Marnus Labuschagne either. Bumrah had grabbed the nation by its collar, hoisted it onto his back, and carried us back into the game. 

With Siraj and debutant Harshit Rana finding their rhythm from the other end, Australia were reduced to 67-7 overnight before a lower order fightback dragged them to 104. While a lead of 46 was handy on a difficult batting pitch, it looked slender in the hands of a fragile Indian batting unit. 

It is not easy being KL Rahul. An introvert by nature, some would argue his personality is not compatible with the pressures of being a professional athlete representing India. He has had to deal with an obscene amount of criticism which rests upon the foundations of surface-level statistics. His career is almost comical in its impermanence and is littered with remarkable coincidences. Books could be written on how he has been vaulted from opener, to number 4, to number 6, to white ball specialist, to wicketkeeper, and then back again a hundred times over. He regularly finds himself out of the team and/or out of form.But, the truth is, no man in history has been there for Indian test cricket like KL Rahul. And boy, can that guy bat. 

No statistic can encompass the technical brilliance of Lord’s 2021, the clinical mastery of Centurion 2021, and the counter-attacking assault of Centurion 2023. All away from home, on tough decks, against world-class pace attacks.

When he walked out to bat on Day 1, he looked like a man on a mission. He doggedly fought his way to 26 off 74 balls, resolutely defending close to his body and putting plays-and-misses behind him. However, it’s KL Rahul; destiny always has the final say. Despite clearly not nicking the ball, he was given out and it looked like his efforts would go in vain. 

Thankfully, test cricket has a way of giving second chances. KL strode back to the crease in the second innings and played with even more determination and intent, pinching singles wherever possible and presenting the full face of the bat at all times. The straight drive that he unfurled when he was batting on 12 will go down as one of the shots of the series. And as he batted on and on and on, soaking up balls and putting overs into the opposition bowlers’ legs, it almost seemed like he was making up for lost time. 

At the other end, Yashasvi Jaiswal was fighting his own demons. He very quickly realised that there is a sizeable difference between dustbowls in India and green seamers in Perth, and his dismissal in the first innings had the potential to become a worrying pattern for the rest of the series. However, what Yashasvi Jaiswal did in the second innings has already cemented him as one of the great modern-day Indian batsmen - he learnt on the fly. His ability to eliminate his on-the-up drive from his game almost completely and score predominantly on the backfoot spoke of a player who understands conditions and can put aside his ego to find a method to be successful no matter the circumstances. He left deliveries outside off stump endlessly and, with tremendous patience, slowly ground down the Australian quicks. 

The two batsmen accumulated their way to an unglamorous, disciplined, vital 201-run partnership. When both KL and Jaiswal were finished, after 176 and 297 balls respectively, they had consolidated India’s position and effectively ground the opposition into the dirt. 

But the Aussies were not done fighting. Starc dismissed Padikkal with the first ball after lunch on day 3 and India proceeded to lose 3-8. While they were still well ahead of the game, the Australians were threatening to get back into it.

Meanwhile, Virat Kohli was going about his business and trying to get set. The last year or so has been particularly hard on him and he does not necessarily deserve most of the flak he has been receiving. Amidst growing concerns that he is skipping matches and taking excessive rest, Kohli missed the entire 5-test series to be with his family for his son’s birth. When he returned for the IPL, despite being the Orange cap winner, RCB failed to make the finals yet again. He then endured a torrid time in the T20 World Cup until he stood up on the big day to win an ICC trophy after 11 years, but, ever since that knock in June, he has been struggling for rhythm and fluency.

 Everyone has their theories. He’s too old. He is now a family man who has lost the fire and passion of his youth. Where once his ambition was to represent India on the biggest stage, he now seems to enjoy living a quiet life in London. 

Once, when asked about Virat Kohli’s dedication and work ethic, commentator Harsha Bhogle declared: “Until the day he retires, never doubt Virat Kohli’s commitment to Indian cricket.”

Yes, he has matured, and he is not as aggressive as he used to be. Yes, his technique is slightly less sharp than it was in his prime, and his judgement of length is fractionally worse. But, the reality is, even if he is half as good as he was, he is still twice as good as everyone else.

You can see the fire in his eyes when he strides out to the crease. When he practices in the nets. When he celebrates wickets in the field. The runs may have deserted him, but the aura he holds has not. And when he walked out on Day 3, he was desperate to make a difference.

The Virat Kohli that batted for the next 2 sessions was imperious. Powerfully driving down the ground. Solid in defence. Strong with his wristwork and quick with his feet. As the time went on, he became a batsman that more and more people watching were starting to recognise. They had seen this before. We had seen this before. The whip through the on-side came out to take him to fifty. The cracking cover drive hurtled to the boundary despite the slow Optus outfield. And, when he finally got to the hundred, and finally realised he had hit a four, and finally lifted his arms to the heavens, it was a release. Virat Kohli had proven the doubters wrong again and showed all of us that, no matter how much adversity we face, we are in control of how we respond to it.

It is a second-innings hundred scored in a low-pressure environment right before a declaration. But it was high quality, and it was a start. Australia has always been kind to Virat Kohli, and, over the next few months, it could propel him to greater heights than ever before. One last time. Many think it won’t. I think it will.

Whatever happens, Virat Kohli will fight tooth and nail for every last ball that he is out there.

When India eventually won the Perth test, by a whopping margin of 295 runs, it was not just Australia that they had defeated. They had also defeated those that never gave them a chance in the first place. Curiously, if you now go to social media, these people will be conspicuously absent and you will find heaps of praise on the national team and every single individual that contributed. The truth is, in a large majority of cases, the voices criticising and praising are one and the same. 

This team is full of heroes. Heroes with flaws and individuals who have made several errors on their journey to the top. But these heroes turn up every day and do their job, irrespective of the odds that they face. And, as we create spectacular memories like this one together, it is our responsibility to do ours and support them, no matter what.